The Hidden History of a Vanished Garrison
Trinkets unearthed at the former site of Fort Chehalis reveal the forgotten military history of the harbor.
Not many of the readers of the Herald know that Peterson's was once fortified, being the site of old Fort Chehalis. The garrison was removed from this fort in 1861 when the fort was left in charge of a sergeant—not Levi. About eighteen years ago the fort was abandoned entirely and the houses were sold to the settlers. Edward Campbell, of Hoquiam, now has one, and one of them is on James Stewart's place on the Wishkah. This summer a number of trinkets were picked up on the old site, articles that had evidently been made to trade with the Indians.
“This summer a number of trinkets were picked up on the old site, articles that had evidently been made to trade with the Indians.”
The transition of a military installation into civilian housing and historical curiosity is a common theme in Pacific Northwest development. Today, little remains of early mid-19th-century forts in Grays Harbor, but the land-use patterns established by these settlers persist in the local geography.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.